Lucky Charm
by hawkerin
Summary: A very short one shot for St Patrick's Day. Extremely fluffy.


Lucky Charm

Notes: Rose/Nine one shot for a challenge I posted on the Facebook group. Just fluffy stuff.

The TARDIS landed with its usual thud and the Doctor poked his head outside to make sure that they had landed where he was hoping to land (this time). Grinning widely, he stepped out onto the bright green grass and held out his hand. Rose bounced out of the time ship happily and took his hand.

"Welcome to the planet Ceili. We are here during their St. Patrick's Festival, which lasts two weeks. They have traditional Irish cuisine, loads of beer, Irish music, Irish dancing... You're gonna love it, Rose," the Doctor rambled and she leaned happily into his leather-clad shoulder.

"Sounds great, yeah. Do they have like Leprechauns here or something? Good luck charms and all that?" she wondered. They had encountered so many things that she thought were all just pretend, maybe Leprechauns were real after all.

"No, well, not really. The natives are rather short, but they aren't Leprechauns. And really, Rose? Good luck charms? Don't believe in luck, me. Time Lords aren't superstitious like that," he teased.

They walked hand in hand, down the gravel road towards the village nearby. The sky was bright blue and the sun shone warmly, but there was a pleasant breeze blowing through the air that carried the scent of freshly baked bread towards them. The buildings in the village were cute little brick structures with thatched roofs. Rose smiled happily as she saw the bright green canopies and flags erected for the festival.

When they arrived, the Doctor handed Rose a credit stick from his pocket and assured her that they got tons of tourists coming to the festival, so she shouldn't have any trouble using it. Rose gave him an appreciative peck on the cheek and ran off to look at the trinkets for sale.

The Doctor smiled as he watched her skipping along through the crowds. If he ever had a good luck charm, it was currently looking at the sparkly earrings on the table nearby. She had brought so much light into his life when he thought he could never be worthy of friendship again. She had saved his life, several times now, and in more ways than she would ever know.

Rose smiled at the adorable little old woman in front of her. Her red hair was braided on either side of her cheerful, round face and her eyes crinkled softly when she smiled.

"What can I get for you, love?" she asked politely.

"I dunno. I'm just kind of, browsing," Rose replied as she looked at the jewellery spread across the table.

"A souvenir for the festival, maybe? We've some lovely lucky charms over here," she said as she directed Rose's attention to a case filled with little silver charms.

Rose took a moment to examine each of them carefully, before settling on a lovely, silver four leaf clover. It had little green gems set in each of the leaves and came with a delicate silver chain.

"Oh, that's lovely. I'll take that one," she told the woman with a bright tongue in teeth grin.

"Certainly! Oh that one is guaranteed to bring luck to ya. Now, as I put the chain on you, close your eyes and make a wish," the little woman instructed.

Rose closed her eyes and thought to herself, 'I wish the Doctor would tell me how he really feels about me.'

Rose didn't see it because her eyes were closed, but the Doctor noticed immediately that the pendant being attached to Rose's neck shone slightly with a green glow. It faded once Rose's wish was made and she paid the woman before rejoining the Doctor by the food tables. He eyed he necklace carefully and, when she wasn't looking, scanned it with the sonic, but couldn't see anything dangerous about it.

Oh, Rose looked lovely today. The sunshine made her golden hair sparkle and her smile sparked something inside of him that made his hearts stutter. He should take her to places like this more often. Why was Rose staring at him like that?

"What?" Rose squeaked.

"Dear god, did I say that out loud? Or that? What is going on?" the Doctor babbled uncontrollably.

"Are you alright, Doctor?" Rose asked worriedly. He never said things like that to her, never admitted what he was thinking when he looked at her like that. Hang on... Her wish. She had wished that he would tell her how he really felt, but it was just a silly game wasn't it?

"I thought it was just for fun, yeah? I didn't mean it, Doctor," Rose told him with tears in her eyes. She never intended to force him to speak those secrets if he didn't want to.

"What are you talking about, Rose? What was just for fun?" he asked her with wide eyes.

"The pendant, she said it was for luck and told me to make a wish and I didn't think it would come true or anything! I'm so sorry, Doctor. I never meant to invade your private thoughts like that, it was just a silly idea," Rose rambled, embarrassed that things had turned so badly.

"What exactly did you wish, Rose?" he asked carefully as he tried to keep his internal ramblings to a minimum, lest he say anything else that he didn't intend.

"I wished that you would tell me how you really felt about me," she mumbled as she averted her gaze down to her trainers and blushed.

"Why?" he wondered, genuinely curious why she would care what he felt about her.

Rose gathered her strength for this admission. She had inadvertently forced him to say some very personal thoughts about her, the least she could do was admit this. "Well, it's just that... Well, sometimes the way you look at me or something, makes me think that maybe... I don't know. Then it stops and I'm not sure anymore and I just wanted to know what you were really thinking, but I didn't mean to actually make you say things you didn't want to say, Doctor!" Rose babbled, not sure how to stop herself once she had started.

"No, I'm sorry, Rose, if my staring makes you uncomfortable. I just can't seem to stop sometimes because you're just so beautiful and compassionate and I lo..." The Doctor told her as his eyes grew wider with each admission, until he finally threw his hand over his mouth before the last words could tumble out.

Rose's mouth dropped open as she realized what he was about to say. But we're these things true or was whatever force that was acting on him making him say things that she wanted to hear? She had to know, but if she asked him while he was still under the influence of this thing, she would never know if the answer was genuine.

"How do we stop it, Doctor?" she asked. That should be safe, since it didn't involve his feelings about her.

"Might be best to ask the lady that sold it to you," he suggested. The whole thing didn't seem malicious and probably wouldn't have worked if the results would have proved dangerous, more like a mental suggestion than a command, since he had still managed to cover his mouth.

Rose left his side to go and ask the woman about the charm. "Excuse me? I just wanted to ask you... This charm I bought, yeah? You told me to make a wish..." she began, hoping the woman would explain.

"Yes! Isn't it marvellous?" she exclaimed.

"It's brilliant, yeah? I was just wondering, um, how long does it last?" Rose asked.

"Oh, don't worry about that, love. Soon as you take it off, it'll stop. And it's only the first time you wear it, after that, it's just a pretty pendant," she explained.

"Ok, thanks," she said with a smile.

Rose walked back over to the Doctor and unclasped the chain as she approached him. She put the necklace in her pocket to keep it safe for later.

"She said it's just the first time you wear it and it only lasts until you take it off. So you should be alright now, right?" Rose to,d him worriedly as she wrung her hands together.

"It's fine, Rose. Wasn't that bad, just kind of turned off the filter on my mouth," he reassured her as he took her hands in his to stop her fidgeting.

"Does that mean...? I mean... Did you, um. Did you mean all that?" she questioned insecurely.

"Well, I ... Um, yeah," he admitted, not meeting her eyes.

Rose suddenly wrapped her arms around his neck, happily. She kissed his cheek and, even though he didn't complete the statement earlier, she whispered in his ear, "I love you too."

The Doctor closed his eyes in bliss. The lovely creature in his arms loved him. He loved her more than human languages could express, but instead of saying those words, he shifted their positions a bit and kissed her. He heard her surprised squeak and chuckled smugly. When they finally separated, the Doctor took her hand in his again and led her towards the food vendors where they had intended to go before.

"Come on, lucky charm. We've got a festival to explore," he told her with a warm smile.

Rose smiled back, disbelieving what had just occurred could possibly be true. Either she was dreaming, or this pendant was the luckiest charm she had ever possessed. She just hoped she didn't wake up soon.


End file.
